When I look at this cabinet with some of my glassware for drinks, I am reminded of when my parents were alive and we would gather at their house for Christmas.
I think the shot below with my mother and a family friend was 1989 which was her last Christmas before her stroke and subsequent death. Much of the crystal and glassware from my parents is now at my house.
The next shot was around 1994 at my parents' although only my Dad was alive of my two parents. My daughter is sitting on one of my sister's lap.
The birds like to gather at my deck and front yard bird baths for drinks. The shot below is one of my front yard baths this summer with juvenile American robins.
Click here for Gattina's "drinks" theme at Saturday Photohunting.
For the "Gather" theme click here for the Saturday Photohunt.
Happy New Year Ahead!
Since this is the last nature notes of 2011, I decided to start with January of 2011 and pick one shot for each month, ending with December 2011.
I'm not trying to make the shots I picked be representative of the month.
I also didn't try to pick ones I thought were the best that I took that month.
It was pretty random. I opened my archives and took a look at a day or two in that month and grabbed one.
The shot below is one I took on vacation in May, in the West Virginia mountains.
May and October are the only ones that aren't shots I took close to my central North Carolina home.
The October shot which will be the tenth one is still in North Carolina but it was the NC mountains on the northwestern edge of the state.
It's odd in a way that there aren't any birds bathing in any of the shots I picked.
I think I probably didn't pick any bird bath shots since they seem to be the ones I use more often than not for nature notes.
For variety I ended up steering clear of the proverbial bathing beauties.
Although I guess the swimming geese below are bathing beauties in one sense of the word.
I hope everyone has a healthy and happy New Year ahead.
Click for the home of nature notes.
I haven't taken many nature shots since the last week's nature notes.
The American Robin above and female cardinal below caught my eye when I was looking out my bedroom door.
We continue to alternate between unseasonably warm weather when it's wet and then cold weather when it's dry and the sun comes out. I guess it's nice that we are having the sun on the colder days so far.
Click for the home of nature notes.
Natural
Joy
I'm participating in both of the Saturday Photohunts this week and the two themes go together very well. Gattina's theme this week in Natural and Sandi's is Joy. I derive a great deal of joy from the natural world. For me natural joy is the best high around.
In the spirit of the season I'm using photographs I shot from December 4 through December 27 of 2010 which was an unusually snowy December for the part of North Carolina where I live.
The big ice blocks in the top part of the shot above are from the bird bath and my attempts to supply fresh water to the birds.
We haven't had any snow yet this December which is why I thought I'd show you my natural world from last December.
The birds in the shots above and below, as well as in many of the shots I'm using are standing on my deck wall. They give me a great deal of joy.
When it snows, I try to keep the top of the deck wall brushed off because it's a good major feeding station for the birds and squirrels. It may look like they're eating snow but that ledge is full of seeds, fruit and nuts.
The main time I feed the birds is when it's snowing or when it's unusually cold, although I always provide them with fresh water.
I used to have feeders for year round bird seed until I started letting my garden go to seed literally.
At this point, except in bad weather, there is plenty of stuff for the birds to eat in my wild garden and they hoard seeds and nuts in the fall to help with the winter.
However, when the weather is extra cold or snowy, I help them out.
I get so much joy from the natural world filled with the sky, trees, birds, and many other animals that make their home in my wild overgrown yard.
Click here to visit Gattina's Saturday's Photohunting where the theme is Natural. Sandy has taken over TN Chicks Saturday Photohunt and you can click here where the theme is Joy. A big thank you to both hosts for keeping the photohunt going.
I always like photographing the birds in the winter because they are so much easier to catch on bare branches, than when summer foliage hides them.
The carolina wren (above and below) is one that's particularly hard to catch in the summer because they go in and out of the bird baths so fast so it's easier to catch them in the trees when they've dropped their leaves.
The American Robin (below) is mostly in the trees or at the bird baths once it starts getting cold and there isn't much on the ground for them.
The female cardinal below is color coordinated with the bath.
The American Robin below was staring at a new bird that is similar in size to it as well as similar socially.
The new type of birds (which I hope someone can I.D.) came to the baths in a group.
They shared with each other and the robins but also chased each other off when there wasn't room for all of them.
They seemed to treat each other and the robins the same way and the robins treated them the same way as they treat each other.
If someone hogged the bath too long they got chased off but there was peace as long as everyone had enough room. I looked all through my bird book and couldn't find a bird that looks like this one.
Click for the home of Nature Notes.
There isn't anything blooming at my house and probably won't be until it starts warming up next spring.
I have so many flowers in my archives that I've never posted, I'm picking a few of those out.
The first shot and the shot below are hydrangeas. The second shot is an ice plant flower.
The last shot is a primrose. These are all from the last week of May, 2011.
Click for the home of today's flowers.
Joy
